he all i have just got in the fandom about 2 and a half months its been alot of fun so far. im makeing a fursuit brown bear partial next week for fcn next month.it will be my first con well anyway just wanted to say hi. it will be fun to hear from some of you all.ok see ya all later.

guess i have been watching and reading your posts on here for a little while...thought i would finally "speak"up. Im new-ish to the furry world...first suit is still a dream in my head but it will be real one of these days. been to one con in florida with a friend. was fun but would like to go to a bigger one and meet more ppl. im a semi-lonely girl and need some more friends ;)! never can have enough friends. I enjoy art though im not so great at it...doodle more for my own pleasure and to help relax me. i also love photography and someday hope to run a marathon and write the great american novel (dont we all?) I also love to hike (anywhere but the desert) and love to garden. hmmmm....think that is about all there is interesting about me :P! my question is do any of you play world of warcraft? i love the game and thought it might be fun to see some of ya on there.

My name is Lauren, but I go by "Lady" or "Ouka" due to most of my online handles. I am a twenty year old high school graduate, currently working in grocery retail to support my freelance art business. I would like to seek a degree in children's early education to become a kindergarten-gradeschool teacher, or to pursue a career in criminal justice. I know those fields don't correlate at all. Haha.

I love to spend my time drawing, baking, painting, sculpting, listening to music and collecting my little ponies. I love bold, bright colors, and I really am a girly girl at times.

I like to dabble in making fursuits, since it's another art form.

I absolutely adore 80's rock, and my favorite band is Whitesnake. My favorite current band is Blue October.

I am pretty laid back and really easy to get along with as long as you smell okay, and have respect for me. I am intelligent, and love to have THOUGHTFUL conversations. Seriously-- make me think.. it's awesome.

I have been in the fandom without knowing what it was called, since I was 10. I finally took on the furry label at the age of 13. My beliefs lean toward therian, since I have some Cherokee native American blood in me. I hold pagan beliefs, and I appear to be agnostic-- though I don't really have a fixed religion.

:B I guess that's about all I have to say about me. Feel free to chat away.

So here's my little story, hope it gives some future members of straightfur some moral support!

I had decided to go to Anthrocon 09 maybe a week before on a whim, I was always a huge fan of the furry community, but always a lurker, I didn't know if being an active part would suit me or even if I was a furry myself. I made the 6 hour drive out there solo, saw all my favorite artists and suiters, first time seeing fursuits, basically had a total blast, but still wasn't sure if I'd be able to connect in the fandom.

One day after AC, I went to Disney World, FL on my "planned" vacation, still digesting the con and had some burning questions that weren't sitting right. I more or less needed to know if there were straight furs like me new to the fandom who had taken the leap of faith and gotten involved, with the same worries about making friends and relationships. Basically I ended up Googling "straight furs" while in line for the Rockn Roller Coaster and the LJ community came up, and I saw a couple posts on the front page by some guy 'coopertom' who chronicled pretty much my exact scenario. I thought if this guy can do it, at least there was one other person like me out there, and it pretty much cured my hesitations. But that's all I knew about the dude.

To shorten up the third act, I created an LJ account so I could email him and tell him his posts helped me out. Then because I had the LJ account, Zero, a fur local to me was able to message me arranging to meet up, and that he would invite another furry who lived like 10 miles from me...by the name of Coopertom 8O.

There's some other weird coincidences in the story, but I think that one is the most applicable here, that not only are there a lot of straight furs around, they could be just up the street. And now the unknown LJ guy who unwittingly tipped the scales to getting my confidence up and into the fandom is a fursuiting buddy of mine.

So if you question the value of straightfur, it's a great recruitment channel too!

I can't get over it! It's been almost 5 months now that I started interacting with other furs and what an awesome time I had so far. I was just reading some of my older posts here and it's amazing to see all little fears I had with this fandom. I had a fear of telling my non-furry friends that I'm furry, I was afraid of the "wrong crowds" and all sorts of other things. I'm glad to say that all of these fears have been sorted out for me these past few months and just sort over came them naturally.

Now I will admit, I don't think I mentioned it in any previous posts here but did feel a bit uncomfortable joining a fandom that had a rather large gay audience. I have nothing against homosexuality but I was kind of in the dark about what do you do or say around gay people. I had no clue since I had only talked to like 4 other gay people my entire life. After meeting other furs and attending this years Anthrocon I'm glad to say that I did not get any negative vibes between myself and furries who are gay and visa versa. I just had to be myself and if your cool with them being gay, they'll be cool with you being straight.

As for the "wrong crowd" that I was trying to avoid, I was happy to find a local group of furs in NJ that totally rock. I also made a nice network of friends on here on LJ and while I was at Anthrocon.

Ha ha and last but not least the fear of what to do with your non-furry friends. Well at first I was going keep my furry friends separate from my non-furry friends and also my non-furry friends would not know I'm furry. Well that whole thing went in the garbage shockingly. Most of my friends now know I'm a furry and a few know some of my furry friends. At first I was thinking to myself ahh what the hell am I doing but it all worked out great.

These last few months totally rocked. I'm so glad that I just went for it and finally got involved with the furry fandom. So to any new furs out there, gay or straight, don't let any little fears or misconceptions stop you. There is a spot for everyone in this fandom, so follow your heart, do what you think is right and you'll truly have an awesome time!

Hey there, I'm a fluffy little Micro Fishing Cat up in Alberta. I'm fairly active in my local community and I'll be hitting up RF this year :D.I decided that I would like to stretch my big wide arms out in to the nether regions of the furry fandom and shout from the rooftops! ZOMG there are others of us out there! . So here I am! Go me! (I'm not single leave me be >.>)(some people need to take a chill pill...do I seem like the offensive type?)

I am Fuzzle; *sparkle* - *shine* - *hold for ooh's and aah's*I guess you could say I'm not your typical furry. I'm a straight, christian, conservative with really strong old fashioned values. I am very easy to get along with, I talk to everyone who makes an attempt to talk to me. I don't push anyone away or try to come off as someone special by parading around indifference. Its important to me to communicate with others and share. Its at the heart of my artistic personality to give and receive. I like hearing your opinions, I like hearing your rants, I like hearing your comments, and at the same time I'll join in because I don't play the internet nazi game. If you want to complain on the internet, your free to do it as much as you want. I have no place in telling you to stop complaining. We are built on a society that has the freedom to complain and vent their frustrations.

I got into Furries several years ago, its formed the base of my art and its truly what I love to create. Now, anyone whose into Furries right now knows the reasons its so appealing. Its like a life avatar. We identify and express who we are at a level thats hard to define with words, through animals which finds validation through art. It is our ability to draw that brings them to life, and thats why most furries are also artists. With my art, I try to break through the piles of pornography that plagues these make believe creatures, and create a real world where these creatures are believable and alive. I make sure the set piece and background is every bit as real and in contact with the character itself so that you are looking into a snapshot of a world where these creatures really exist.

So definitely send me a message or 2, or 500. I love hearing from others and I love talking to others. After all, why should the internet exist at all unless were communicating? I'm always available, I mean all my hobbies exist right inside my room, so I'm always here to talk. If your curious about the furry me, I am a Fox. Yes a fox, but I also got these super schweet bunneh ears. Look at these bad boys, they are really where its at. You can see me there in my avatar.

So if your low on your daily recommended intake of Fuzzle, make sure you send me a message.

Been a furry lurker, just attended AC 2009 in stealth mode to see how I'd connect. Had a ton of fun people watching and felt comfortable with everyone there, but saw the potential loneliness in the fandom. But I've never been one to be impatient or not put in some good old-fashioned effort, so I decided to give it a shot!

Would love to chat with any furs. Lessee, I'm in accounting, got my Masters in 2008, but I work to live (for fun). Cruising, theme parks, board games, Atlantic City and DVD collecting just a few of my interests.

My fursona, whom I fleshed out during AC, is Rudo. He's a fennec fox that embodies everything I like about furries, innocent, loyal and non-judgmental. Starting to really connect with him too.

So please PM just for anything, I love to chat and have a lot to say. And thanks for the group!